Telecoms that contravene the Fraud Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例) and are consequently punished would be assigned with a limited number of telephone numbers within a designated period of time, an amendment to Regulations for Applying and Allocating Telecommunications Numbers (電信號碼申請及核配辦法) proposed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs said.
The amendment is subject to a 60-day public review before it takes effect.
The amendment is designed to reinforce the management of four-digit numbers that begin with “19,” which are usually assigned to government agencies offering emergency assistance, social aid organizations and charities, the ministry said yesterday.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
Some of the widely known numbers include the COVID-19 prevention hotline 1922, the Taipei City Government’s hotline for residents 1999 and Taiwan Railway Corp’s hotline 1933 for people to call when they see objects on railway lines.
Telephone numbers are rare national resources, so to prevent these special numbers from being abused for fraud, they are generally assigned to government agencies and state-run corporations, the ministry said.
As private organizations would be able to apply to use the special numbers, the regulations need to be amended to reinforce the management of the numbers, it said.
The amendment stipulates the conditions under which individuals and organizations must voluntarily return special service numbers to the government. When changing the use of these special numbers, they must file applications and secure approval from the government before they are allowed to continue using the numbers, the ministry said.
The amendment also lists the standards that must be met before individuals and organizations can apply for special service numbers. It also authorizes the ministry to conduct random inspections to ensure that the numbers are not abused and users are obligated to comply with the inspections.
Meanwhile the ministry has also proposed an amendment to the Subsidy, Reward and Assistance Regulations for Promoting Industry Innovation (數位發展部協助產業創新活動補助獎勵及輔導辦法), which authorizes it to subsidize, reward and assist digital industries in developing technology to deter fraud.
The amendment is subject to a 30-day public review period, the ministry said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS